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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6295291" data-attributes="member: 42582">Nor do I. Your previous paragraph suggests that you don't have a very strong handle on how those who like abstract conflict-resolution mechanics actually use them. For instance, "throw some level scaled DCs at your PCs, let them win or lose some small resources and continue till it comes to combat" doesn't remotely describe how I use skill challenges in my game.I'll refer you to <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?301282-Actual-play-examples-balance-between-fiction-and-mechanics" target="_blank">actual</a> <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?309950-Actual-play-my-first-quot-social-only-quot-session" target="_blank">play</a> <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?353496-First-time-godslayers-PCs-kill-Torog&p=6274665#post6274665" target="_blank">posts</a> for some examples.In the post to which you are replying, I explained how I as GM might decide what the dragon can too, and then tell the players.As to how to adjudicate things fairly - it is not very hard: the players and GM frame the situation, the check is rolled, success or failure is narrated. That's the point of level-appropriate DCs: they make the resolution "fair".You can bring electricity potions to a skill challenge, too, and expend them to get +2 to an appropriate check (say Endurance to stand on the deck of the ship, taking the helm, while lightning strikes all around). The players in my 4e game regularly use Resist Primordial Elements to get bonuses on skill checks for trekking through hard areas (like Abyssal deserts or the ice-caverns of the Shadowfell).I'm not seeing the radical difference between what you're asking for and how 4e actually plays. Skill challenges are rules. And can be as important as you want them to be.Here is a summary of the rules, compiled from the relevant rules text in the DMG and PHB:Whatever the details of a skill challenge, the basic structure of a skill challenge is straightforward: the goal is to accumulate a specific number of victories (usually in the form of successful skill checks) before getting too many defeats (three failed checks). The GM determines the level and complexity of the skill challenge. More so than perhaps any other kind of encounter, a skill challenge is defined by its context in an adventure. The GM sets the stage for a skill challenge by describing the situation (including defining the PCs’ goal), describing the obstacle(s) the PCs face to accomplish their goal, and giving the players some idea of the options they have in the encounter. The GM then describes the environment, listens to the players’ responses, lets them make their skill checks, and narrates the results. The players describe their PCs’ actions and make checks until they either successfully complete the challenge or fail. Depending on the success or failure of a player’s check, the GM describes the consequences and goes on to the next action. It’s up to the players to think of ways to use their PCs’ skills to meet the challenges they face. In skill challenges, players will come up with uses for skills that the GM didn’t expect to play a role. When a player’s turn comes up in a skill challenge, let that player’s character use any skill the player wants. Try not to say no. As long as the player or GM can come up with a way to let this secondary skill play a part in the challenge, go for it. This encourages players to think about the challenge in more depth. However, it’s particularly important to make sure these checks are grounded in actions that make sense in the adventure and the situation. The GM should ask what exactly the character might be doing. Don’t say no too often, but don’t say yes if it doesn’t make sense in the context of the challenge.If you wanted to, you could run a whole RPG that way. (HeroWars/Quest and Maelstrom Storytelling do, with a few bells and whistles added on.)</blockquote>

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